Blow-drying device and blow-drying system for cable
By designing a dryer with an annular air chamber and air passage, combined with a vortex air pump and heat exchanger, the problems of low efficiency and gas waste in existing dryers have been solved, achieving efficient and stable optical cable drying, adapting to different optical cable outer diameters and materials, and reducing production costs.
Patent Information
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Utility models(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2025-03-14
- Publication Date
- 2026-04-03
AI Technical Summary
Existing dryers have low drying efficiency, the airflow cannot completely wrap around the sleeve, they are prone to blockage, the gas utilization rate is low, and they cannot adapt to different optical cable outer diameters and materials, resulting in low production efficiency.
The dryer is designed with an annular air chamber and an annular air channel to form a 360° annular air curtain. Combined with a vortex air pump and heat exchanger, it recovers waste gas and uses a control cabinet to adjust the air pressure to adapt to different optical cable outer diameters and materials.
It improves drying efficiency, reduces scale buildup, saves gas consumption, lowers production costs, and increases production efficiency and gas utilization.
Smart Images
Figure CN224080640U_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This application relates to the field of cable manufacturing technology, and in particular to a cable dryer and drying system. Background Technology
[0002] During the manufacturing process of optical cables, they need to be dried. Current drying technology uses nut-and-hinged dryers, with 4-5 sets evenly arranged along the direction of the sleeve's travel in a drying chamber. Compressed air at a pressure of 0.68 MPa is used to dry the sleeve. On some high-speed lines, vortex air pumps and suction dryers are added to further dry the sleeves if the drying effect is insufficient.
[0003] However, the above method has some drawbacks, such as:
[0004] Existing dryers blow air vertically, which cannot completely cover the sleeve to be dried, resulting in low drying efficiency.
[0005] Existing dryers have air outlets that come into direct contact with water vapor. Over time, this can cause scale buildup that clogs the air outlets and reduces drying stability.
[0006] Some vortex pump exhaust gases are directly emitted without being recycled, resulting in gas waste, low utilization rate, and increased production costs.
[0007] The existing dryer's drying pressure is not linked to the traction speed and outer diameter, making it impossible to finely adjust the pressure for different optical cable outer diameters and production speeds. This results in gas waste and affects drying uniformity and production efficiency. Furthermore, due to the dryer's simple structure, it cannot adapt to optical cables of different diameters and materials, leading to unstable drying effects and impacting production efficiency. Summary of the Invention
[0008] This application provides a cable dryer and drying system to solve the problem of low drying efficiency in related technologies.
[0009] In a first aspect, a cable dryer is provided, comprising a body having a cable passage for the cable to pass through, and an annular air chamber and an air inlet that are interconnected. The annular air chamber extends to connect with the cable passage to form an annular air channel, and the cable passage, the annular air chamber, and the annular air channel are coaxially arranged.
[0010] In some embodiments, the distance between the two side walls of the annular airway gradually increases along the gas flow direction in the annular airway.
[0011] In some embodiments, the annular air passage is arranged at an angle such that the angle between the gas flow direction in the annular air passage and the cable direction in the cable routing channel is an obtuse angle.
[0012] In some embodiments, the body includes an inner core and an outer shell, the outer shell being fitted onto the inner core, and forming the annular air cavity and annular air passage between the inner core and the outer shell;
[0013] The air inlet is located on the outer casing;
[0014] A portion of the cable routing channel is located on the inner core, and another portion is located on the outer shell.
[0015] Secondly, a cable drying system is provided, comprising:
[0016] A first dryer and a vortex air pump are arranged sequentially along the cable route. The first dryer is a cable dryer as described above, and the air inlet of the dryer is connected to a compressed air source.
[0017] In some embodiments, the drying system further includes a heat exchanger, one end of which is connected to the exhaust port of the vortex pump, and the other end is connected to a second dryer, which is located upstream of the vortex pump and downstream of the first dryer.
[0018] In some embodiments, the second dryer has the same structure as the first dryer.
[0019] In some embodiments, the dryer jacket is provided with a moisture collection box.
[0020] In some embodiments, a sound insulation layer is provided between the moisture collection box and the dryer.
[0021] In some embodiments, the drying system further includes a control cabinet connected to the compressed air source and used to adjust the drying air pressure of the first dryer according to the cable movement speed and outer diameter.
[0022] The beneficial effects of the technical solution provided in this application include:
[0023] The dryer designed in this application features an annular air chamber around the cable channel, connected to the cable channel via an annular air passage. Compressed gas enters the annular air chamber through the inlet, surrounds the cable channel, and then blows onto the cable passing through the annular air passage. Compared to existing dryers, which have the main drawbacks of a small drying cross-section, concentrated airflow on the upper and lower sides of the sleeve, limited drying area, inability to completely enclose the sleeve to be dried, and low drying efficiency, the compressed gas blown out from the annular air passage in this application forms an annular air curtain that encloses the sleeve 360°, resulting in a large drying area and improved drying efficiency. Attached Figure Description
[0024] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the accompanying drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of this application. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative effort.
[0025] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a dryer (split-type structure) provided in an embodiment of this application;
[0026] Figure 2 A simulation diagram of the gas trajectory of the dryer (split structure) provided in the embodiments of this application;
[0027] Figure 3 A simulation diagram of the gas trajectory of the dryer (integrated structure) provided in the embodiments of this application;
[0028] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of a drying system provided in an embodiment of this application.
[0029] In the diagram: 1. Main body; 10. Cable routing channel; 11. Annular air chamber; 12. Air inlet; 13. Annular air passage; 14. Inner core; 15. Outer shell; 2. Vortex air pump; 3. Heat exchanger; 4. Control cabinet. Detailed Implementation
[0030] To make the objectives, technical solutions, and advantages of the embodiments of this application clearer, the technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.
[0031] See Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, this application provides a cable dryer, which includes a body 1. The body 1 is provided with a cable passage 10 for the cable to pass through. The body 1 is also provided with an annular air chamber 11 and an air inlet 12 that are interconnected. The annular air chamber 11 extends to connect with the cable passage 10 to form an annular air channel 13. The cable passage 10, the annular air chamber 11 and the annular air channel 13 are coaxially arranged.
[0032] The dryer designed in this application features an annular air chamber 11 around the cable channel 10, connected to the cable channel 10 via an annular air passage 13. Compressed gas enters the annular air chamber 11 through the air inlet 12, then surrounds the cable channel 10 before being blown through the annular air passage 13 onto the cable passing through the cable channel 10. Compared to existing dryers, which have the main drawbacks of a small drying cross-section, concentrated airflow on the upper and lower sides of the sleeve, limited drying area, inability to completely enclose the sleeve to be dried, and low drying efficiency, the compressed gas blown out from the annular air passage 13 in this application forms an annular air curtain that encloses the sleeve 360°, resulting in a large drying area and improved drying efficiency.
[0033] During production, the water used is hard, and prolonged use can cause scale buildup at the air outlet, leading to blockages. Existing dryers have small air nozzles, causing water mist to directly splash onto the dryer's outlet, resulting in scale buildup and blockages over time, reducing drying stability. In contrast, the annular air chamber in this application does not directly contact the water mist; compressed gas is blown out through an annular air passage. In the design, the end of the annular air passage can be placed as close as possible to the end of the dryer (e.g., ...). Figure 1 As shown, the end of the annular air passage is as close as possible to the right end of the dryer, so that when the compressed gas is blown out, an annular air curtain is formed outside the dryer, blocking water from entering the cable channel 10 and preventing scale buildup and blockage of the flow channel. At the same time, the annular air passage is large and not easily blocked.
[0034] It is understood that the aforementioned cables can be optical fibers or electrical cables, with the optical fiber cable primarily referring to the sheath within the optical fiber cable. The dryer provided in this application can be used with any cable that requires drying.
[0035] Further, see Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, along the gas flow direction in the annular air passage 13 ( Figure 1 (in the direction of arrow B), the distance L between the two side walls of the annular airway 13 gradually increases.
[0036] By designing the aforementioned distance L, the annular air passage 13 forms a pressure-reducing and speed-increasing flow channel. Specifically, when the compressed gas enters the annular air chamber 11, it undergoes a pressure-increasing process. After being blown out of the annular air passage 13, the distance L between the two side walls of the annular air passage 13 gradually increases, causing the annular air passage 13 to open like a trumpet. The compressed gas will gradually decrease in pressure and increase in speed at the same time, making it easier to dry the moisture on the surface of the cable, thereby improving the drying efficiency.
[0037] See Figure 2As shown, the compressed gas is first pressurized when passing through the annular air chamber 11, and then expands, depressurizes, and accelerates in the annular air passage 13. Simultaneously, it provides omnidirectional drying of the sleeve, effectively improving drying efficiency. The peak airflow velocity at the outlet can reach 379.94 m / s, exceeding the performance of traditional dryers, and can actually save more than 30% of compressed air consumption.
[0038] Further, see Figure 1 As shown, the annular air passage 13 is arranged at an angle so that the gas in the annular air passage 13 flows in the direction of ( Figure 1 The direction of the middle arrow (B) is consistent with the cable routing in the cable tunnel 10. Figure 1 The angle θ between the arrow A and the direction of the arrow is obtuse.
[0039] By arranging the air at an angle, the gas in the annular air duct 13 is not blown vertically. By designing the angle θ between the gas flow direction in the annular air duct 13 and the cable direction in the cable channel 10 as an obtuse angle, when the gas dries the cable surface, the water vapor can be blown out of the dryer against the direction of the cable, thereby improving the drying efficiency.
[0040] The dryer provided in this application can adopt a split structure (such as...). Figure 1 As shown), it can also adopt an integrated structure (such as...). Figure 3 (As shown).
[0041] See Figure 1 As shown, the body 1 includes an inner core 14 and an outer shell 15. The outer shell 15 is fitted onto the inner core 14, and an annular air cavity 11 and an annular air passage 13 are formed between the inner core 14 and the outer shell 15. The air inlet 12 is located on the outer shell 15. A portion of the cable routing channel 10 is located on the inner core 14, and another portion is located on the outer shell 15.
[0042] In this application, the dryer is designed with a split structure. The advantage is that the inner core 14 and outer shell 15 can be disassembled for cleaning during subsequent use. Furthermore, more inner cores 14 and outer shells 15 can be designed according to actual needs. The inner cores 14 and outer shells 15 have cable channels 10 of different sizes to accommodate cables of different sizes. Simultaneously, the inner cores 14 and outer shells 15 are combined to form annular air passages 13 of different sizes to adjust the airflow speed. Specifically, the inner core 14 has a first inclined surface for forming the annular air passage 13, and the outer shell 15 has a second inclined surface for forming the annular air passage 13. Different inner cores 14 have first inclined surfaces with different inclination angles, and different outer shells 15 have second inclined surfaces with different inclination angles. According to actual needs, the dryer can be configured with cable channels 10 and annular air passages 13 of the required sizes by selecting the inner cores 14 and outer shells 15.
[0043] Further, see Figure 4As shown, this application embodiment also provides a cable drying system, which includes a first dryer and a vortex air pump 2 arranged sequentially along the cable route. The first dryer is a cable dryer as described above, and the air inlet 12 of the dryer is connected to a compressed air source.
[0044] In this application, the cable is first dried by a first dryer, and then sucked dry by a vortex air pump 2, thereby achieving the purpose of high-speed and efficient drying of the cable.
[0045] Because the vortex air pump 2 generates high-temperature exhaust gas during operation, it cannot be directly used to dry the casing; in order to recover the exhaust gas from the vortex air pump, improve production efficiency, and reduce production costs, see [reference needed]. Figure 4 As shown, the drying system also includes a heat exchanger 3. One end of the heat exchanger 3 is connected to the exhaust port of the vortex air pump 2, and the other end is connected to a second dryer. The second dryer is located upstream of the vortex air pump 2 and downstream of the first dryer.
[0046] This application designs a heat exchanger 3 that can be connected to the cooling water source in the production process. The heat exchanger 3 is used to cool the high-temperature exhaust gas generated by the vortex air pump 2 and then pass it through the second dryer to dry the casing. This not only makes use of the exhaust gas of the vortex air pump, effectively improving production efficiency, but also uses the exhaust gas as a gas source to add a drying point, making the drying efficiency better and higher.
[0047] The heat exchanger 3 in this application can be a commonly used heat exchanger such as a plate heat exchanger.
[0048] Since the vortex air pump is not a pressure boosting device and needs to operate at normal pressure, excessive airflow resistance in the dryer can lead to poor exhaust gas discharge, increased heat generation, and ultimately, damage to the vortex air pump. To address this issue, in this application, the second dryer has the same structure as the first dryer, both using the split or integrated dryer provided in the embodiments of this application. This dryer is designed with a pressure-reducing and speed-increasing flow channel, which can reduce flow resistance and ensure smooth exhaust.
[0049] This application also includes a water vapor collection box on the outer casing of the dryer, and a sound insulation layer is provided between the water vapor collection box and the dryer to ensure that water vapor will not splash out during drying and to reduce drying noise.
[0050] It is understandable that the above sound insulation layer uses sound insulation materials such as sound insulation cotton.
[0051] See Figure 4 As shown, the drying system also includes a control cabinet 4, which is connected to the compressed air source and is used to adjust the drying air pressure of the first dryer according to the cable movement speed and outer diameter.
[0052] To address the pain point that existing drying systems cannot adjust air pressure according to speed and cable diameter, and that the same air pressure is used for both high-speed and low-speed production, which easily leads to waste, a new control cabinet 4 has been added. Using control cabinet 4, the appropriate drying air pressure is automatically and in real time adjusted according to the cable movement speed and outer diameter of the conduit. While ensuring the drying effect, the drying air pressure is further reduced, enabling refined management and reducing unnecessary waste.
[0053] In the description of this application, it should be noted that the terms "upper," "lower," etc., indicating the orientation or positional relationship are based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings, and are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation of this application. Unless otherwise expressly specified and limited, the terms "installed," "connected," and "linked" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to a fixed connection, a detachable connection, or an integral connection; they can refer to a mechanical connection or an electrical connection; they can refer to a direct connection or an indirect connection through an intermediate medium; they can refer to the internal communication between two elements. For those skilled in the art, the specific meaning of the above terms in this application can be understood according to the specific circumstances.
[0054] It should be noted that in this application, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used merely to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.
[0055] The above description is merely a specific embodiment of this application, enabling those skilled in the art to understand or implement this application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of this application. Therefore, this application is not to be limited to the embodiments shown herein, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features claimed herein.
Claims
1. A cable dryer, characterized in that, It includes a body (1), on which a cable channel (10) is provided for cables to pass through. The body (1) is also provided with an annular air chamber (11) and an air inlet (12) that are interconnected. The annular air chamber (11) extends to connect with the cable channel (10) to form an annular air passage (13). The cable channel (10), the annular air chamber (11) and the annular air passage (13) are coaxially arranged.
2. The cable dryer as described in claim 1, characterized in that: Along the gas flow direction in the annular air passage (13), the distance between the two side walls of the annular air passage (13) gradually increases.
3. The cable dryer as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The annular air passage (13) is arranged at an angle so that the angle between the gas flow direction in the annular air passage (13) and the cable direction in the cable channel (10) is an obtuse angle.
4. The cable dryer as described in claim 1, characterized in that: The body (1) includes an inner core (14) and an outer shell (15). The outer shell (15) is fitted onto the inner core (14), and the annular air cavity (11) and an annular air passage (13) are formed between the inner core (14) and the outer shell (15). The air inlet (12) is located on the outer casing (15); A portion of the cable routing channel (10) is located on the inner core (14), and another portion is located on the outer shell (15).
5. A cable drying system, characterized in that, It includes: A first dryer and a vortex air pump (2) are arranged sequentially along the cable route. The first dryer is a cable dryer as described in any one of claims 1 to 4. The air inlet (12) of the dryer is connected to a compressed air source.
6. The cable drying system as described in claim 5, characterized in that: The drying system also includes a heat exchanger (3), one end of which is connected to the exhaust port of the vortex air pump (2), and the other end is connected to a second dryer, which is located upstream of the vortex air pump (2) and downstream of the first dryer.
7. The cable drying system as described in claim 6, characterized in that: The second dryer has the same structure as the first dryer.
8. The cable drying system as described in claim 5, characterized in that: The dryer jacket is equipped with a moisture collection box.
9. The cable drying system as described in claim 8, characterized in that: A sound insulation layer is provided between the water vapor collection box and the dryer.
10. The cable drying system as described in claim 5, characterized in that: The drying system also includes a control cabinet (4), which is connected to the compressed air source and is used to adjust the drying air pressure of the first dryer according to the cable movement speed and outer diameter.